


Operation: Keep Your Skin

by LadySerendipitous



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Based on a Tumblr Post, F/M, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-20
Updated: 2016-02-20
Packaged: 2018-05-21 23:59:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6063021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadySerendipitous/pseuds/LadySerendipitous
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Adrien is tricked into putting on a Chat Noir costume can he keep up with his Lady and still help save the day?</p><p>Inspired by <a href="http://miraculer.tumblr.com/post/131390833444/stupid-ladybug-episode-idea">this post</a> from Tumblr user <a href="http://miraculer.tumblr.com/">miraculer</a>.</p><p>(Not a ball or party, but Chloe is technically to blame.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Operation: Keep Your Skin

The photoshoot was long, exhausting and boring. It was taking place in a grand front room of one of Paris' amazing historic homes. It was the type of place people gawked at, amazed anyone at one time actually lived there. Adrien though was unimpressed. If anything, despite the artificial air of the room with it's antique furnacing, it was still a warmer place then any room of his own house. 

There was a curtained off area in the back of the room for Adrien to change into the different outfits he was to wear, and where his own bag of stuff, including one kwami, was stashed as well. Closing the curtain behind him Adrien grabbed the last outfit on the hanger rack for the day. An all black ensemble. Once he had it out his eyes went wide. Was this some kind of joke?

"You have got to be kidding me," Adrien whispered as he looked at himself in the mirror. His eyes, he had to admit, had a bit of a wild look. There was no way his father agreed to this. There was no way that his father's company had set this up. 

Adrien Agreste was looking at a Chat Noir suit. 

Years of photoshoots made the action of undressing and dressing automatic. In the back of his head that was thinking he was grateful for this not being a runway show where it was other people putting the leather black suit on him. By the time he had the black mask in his hand, Plagg had finally looked up from out of his bag. "Doesn't look as good," was the comment the little black cat like creature gave. Did he scoff at his chosen's look? Yeah, he scoffed. 

"Shhh!" Was Adrien's reply. He didn't like it. The suit, it didn't feel right. It was tight and constricting. Not like the second skin his miraculous created. Donning the mask it just didn't look right to him still. There was no movement from his tail or ears, the green lenses in the mask giving everything a strange hue. 

It was the hair. Adrien ruffled his hair and looked almost normal finally, until he realized he could not go out looking like this. He looked too much like Chat Noir. Well obviously he did, he was Chat Noir, but if the photographer and the Gorilla saw him like this it could be over. 

"Jon," he called out from behind the curtain. "Who's idea was this. There's no way this is part of the shoot!"

The photographer, upon hearing his name, walked closer to the portable dressing room. Adrien hoped as he heard the footsteps that the man would stay on that side of the curtain. "Ah, you caught me. The mayor's daughter had heard of your photoshoot today and had, can you believe this, called me to make a special request. How could I say no?"

"Easily," he grumbled under his breath. Chloé! Somehow he was not surprised. It was a relief though. If this wasn't part of the regular set then he was under no obligation to pose in it. He wouldn't even have to argue his way out of this. All he had to do was take off the suit, put on his regular clothing and walk out. 

That was until there was a horrible crashing sound in the room. 

Without thinking, just running on instincts, Adrien pulled the curtain back and looked at the scene. A large statue had crashed in through one of the big picture windows of the sitting room. Both the photographer and his bodyguard were staring at it, then the statue moved. 

The akuma was easily bigger then either men before it. It’s stone like appearance hiding the serpentine grace of it's movements. "Yoooooou," it hissed looking at Jon, and the photographer took a step back, ready to flee. 

Adrien was about to do the same thing, but for a very practical reason. Chat Noir, the real Chat Noir, not some teen model in a suit, was needed.

His luck wasn't that good. 

Just as the akuma struck the photographer down with it's power, a snake that coiled out of the stone hair, turning Jon into a statue himself, that's when Ladybug showed up. Adrien couldn't help but to be overjoyed to see his Lady, but then she turned and looked at him. "Oh good you're already here Chat," she said quickly before dodging a bolt. He couldn't leave now, Ladybug was going to need his help. 

Adrien ran forward, grabbing a tripod. He didn't have his staff with him, which he was feeling very uncomfortable about. "Hey, don't give me the stone cold shoulder," he said to the akuma who's attention was on Ladybug just before he thwacked it with the tripod. It got the akuma's attention but the tripod was destroyed. 

"Chat Noir!" He heard Ladybug call out, but Adrien didn't have time to glance in her direction as he had to dodge the physical attack of the akuma's fist then the beam from the snake atop it's head. 

Chat Noir should have end up on the other side of the room by this point, but Adrien was not so nimble and found himself next to the Gorilla. Why hadn't he moved yet? It was then Adrien realized that his body guard had not been staring at the akuma when he first saw it but had already been turned to stone. 

This wasn't good. Adrien was already breathing heavy and the akuma had barely gotten started. He heard the whirl of Ladybug's yo-yo as she caught the akuma's arm, which gave Adrien a chance to reassess the situation. He needed to keep the akuma districted until his lady lucky found a way to free the akuma from Hawkmoth's spell. The thing though was as Ladybug was sent flying across the room as the akuma’s superior strength used Ladybug’s yo-yo string to pull her off her feet, Adrien could only think of close quarter attacks that he wasn’t sure he could actually manage.

Ladybug had retract her yo-yo string, no worse for wear after being pulled to another part of the room. “Chat Noir, we need to…” but he couldn’t listen to her. He knew what he would have done if he was actually transformed, but there was no Cataclysm to help them right now. He was running forward, hoping against hope he could keep from being beamed but instead of the akuma firing at him, it fired at the Gorilla and he moved. “Uh-oh,” Adrien said as he barely escaped the grasp of his bodyguard who was now a stone puppet of the akuma. As he landed from jumping back he felt his foot twist the wrong way. Somehow he kept from gasping as the sudden pain went up his leg. Biting his lower lip he got back up to dodge around the Gorilla and try to get closer to the akuma.

Adrien didn’t see the akuma bring Jon back to life, but he noticed it soon enough as he barely missed being grabbed by the photographer. There was a ripping sound as stone controlled Jon’s fingernails grazed the sleeve of Adrien’s costume, cutting into it. Any closer and the exposed flesh wouldn’t have just a slight pink scratch mark. Above him Adrien saw the Gorilla flying overhead and out the window. Not for the first time Adrien was thankful for his Lady. A moment later Jon was crashing into the far wall of the room thanks to Ladybug’s yo-yo. 

This needed to end and Adrien, trying his best not to limp, went to the large oak table in the room and tipped it on it’s side barely missing another beam from the akuma. A moment later Ladybug was at his side. It was hard to hide his heavy breathing but when her eyes looked at his arm he knew the jig was up. “We don’t have time,” he said in earnest. It was true, the akuma was coming at them.

“Lucky Charm,” Ladybug called out, extending her yo-yo into the air. What fell into her hand was a sack of flour. Adrien noticed she still ended up asking what she was going to do with what her luck brought her, but in the next moment she was pointing at the fire sprinkler almost directly above the akuma. He didn’t have to ask, he just needed something to throw since he didn’t have his baton. Jon’s camera, perfect. 

Ladybug went left, Adrien went right, and in the next moment they were both hurling something in the air. The akuma’s attention had been on the camera, which beaming the object just made it that much heavier when it hit the sprinkler, breaking it off the ceiling and letting loose the water in the pipes. Just before the water started flowing the flourbag hit the akuma, coating it with flour which quickly became sticky. With the snake being unable to move and the akuma trying to scrape the wet flour out of it’s eyes, Ladybug was easily able to get behind the akuma and grab what looked like a flyer off it’s back.

Adrien smiled as he watched Ladybug rip the flyer in half, watched the akuma butterfly try to escape and then her catch it in her yo-yo. Moments later the butterfly was purified and Ladybug grabbed the remains of the flour sack throwing it back up in the air, releasing the lucky magic to fix everything the akuma attack had wrought. This, Adrien was happy to notice, included the stupid costume and his ankle. He skipped over to his lady to give her a fist pump.

Meanwhile the freed akumatized woman got up and was rushing over to Jon. It seemed he had been neglecting his sculpture girlfriend and she had been fed up when he hadn’t made it to her gallery opening, having last minute agreed to this shoot. Adrien didn’t have time to pay attention to the two of them as Ladybug was giving him a very speculative look after their fistpump. Adrien quickly lifted his hands in defense and was for the first time ever happy to hear Ladybug’s Miraculous chime. “I’ll explain someday, promise,” Adrien put one of his hand’s on his heart, “but you should go.”

She wanted to know, it was written all over her face, the curiosity of what had just happened, then her expression changed. “Are you okay?”

Adrien blinked and then gave his biggest grin to her. “Right as rain, My Lady.” He then leaned in a little. “But it’s a little embarrassing. Don’t worry though.” Ladybug opened her mouth to say something but her earrings beeped again. “Go on.” Ladybug nodded and quickly headed out. Adrien all but sighed. How could he rush his beloved Ladybug away? He had no choice though. Now he needed to get out of this accursed costume before Jon realized what was going on, or the Gorilla came back inside. 

“You didn’t do too badly,” Plagg said, his voice thick with humor as Adrien fixed the collar of his shirt and ran a hand through his hair. He was half tempted to ask the kwami to transform him just so he could Cataclysm the costume. Instead he grabbed his bag, kicking the costume which was in a wad on the floor. “Of course Ladybug saved your skin.”

“Of course she did, now shush.” and Adrien pulled the curtain open ready to go home.

**Author's Note:**

> Well here's my second Miraculous Ladybug & Chat Noir fic. Likely needs an editor, but oh well.


End file.
